Other Half

Long Night

Brandon arrived at school and was greeted by his friends.
"Bye B! Be safe!" Stef and Mike yelled from the vehicle and she went off to work.
"Brandon where is your sister?" His friend Wyatt said. He was bouncing a basketball every once in a while.
"She stayed home today" he said shrugging.
"Oh when can we come over again? Your parents never let us anymore" his other friend Matt said while fixing his backpack on his shoulder.
"Guys can you keep a secret?" Wyatt said in a low voice changing the subject.
"What?" Brandon said now curious.
"I might be going out with Hayley tomorrow" he said looking around secretively.
"No way!" Matt said in disbelief.
"You have a girlfriend?" Brandon said shocked.
"Not officially but she totally wants me. We should start getting girlfriends. My mom said it was okay if I wanted to and stuff" Wyatt said boasting.
"My parents said I'm not allowed to yet" Brandon said putting his head down.
"Mind too" Matt said frowning.
"Also does my voice sound more deep? I think it does!" Wyatt said emphasizing the low tones in his voice.
"It does! Wow I'm jealous" Matt said.
"So, did you guys finish the homework for English class? Callie and I couldn't figure it out" Brandon said unzipping his backpack. He felt awkward talking about dating and puberty when it felt like he wasn't progressing as fast as they were.
"Wait, we had homework!?" Wyatt said opening his mouth.

****

"So I've been thinking, maybe we should find different partners for when we're on duty" Stef said to Mike who was sitting nearby.
"What? Suddenly you don't want to work with me or something?" He said turning around in his chair.
"I just don't think it's a good idea to be working together ontop of all the issues we've been having is all" she said going back to working on research.
Mike shook his head, he felt like every time they were finally getting into a good position Stef had to ruin it.
"Fine, let's talk to the coordinator tomorrow later and get a new partner" he said defeated.
"What should we have for dinner?" Stef said changing the subject.
"Let's just get take out. You know because I never cook for them anyway" he said in a petty tone. Stef rolled her eyes,
"I'm not trying to argue but I do actually agree, let's just get take out. I have a lot of research so let's just get back to work" she said putting on her glasses.
"What's been up with Callie?" Mike said after some silence.
"What do you mean?" Stef said typing.
"She's been.. moody and acting like a teenager" Mike laughed at the thought, they were both absolutely terrified of raising teenagers.
"Hormones I guess" Stef laughed in return.
Hours later Mike and Stef were both off from work and they called to check in on Callie,
"Hey love! How has it been all day? We're heading to pick up B now then we'll be back home" she said over the phone as they both got in the car.
"It's good I mostly just practiced my dances Oh and I did all my chores!" She said happily.
"Glad to hear that love, I'll see you soon" she said hanging up.
They arrived at Anchor Beach to pick up Brandon.
"Hey B! Was today a good day?" She said watching him get in the car and buckle up.
"Yes" he said plainly.
"Alrighty then" Mike laughed.
"Was it good without your sister?" Stef asked curiously.
"Yes, but I couldn't cheat off of her in math so it sucked at times" he said smiling.
"I'll pretend like I didn't hear that" Mike said looking over at Stef.
"Hmm cheating off of your sister.. seems like a naughty thing to do but I'm way too tired from work to do anything about it" Stef said nachlauntly.
"Good" Brandon laughed as Mike pretended to fake hit him from the front seat.
"Hey! you two no horseplay in the car sheesh" Stef said causing them to stop.
A few minutes later her phone rang,
"Ugh it's my father" Stef said before answering it. As much as she loved Frank, he was also very critical of her parenting style. She put up with him the best she could.
"Hello honey you busy later?" He said loudly into the phone.
"Nope actually we just got off work and are heading home for dinner. But I'm exhausted and dad fyi you don't need to yell into the phone" Stef said touching her ear.
"Oops bad habit. Perfect timing maybe I'll stop by with Sharon for some dinner and to see my beautiful grandkids again" he said excited and Stef shook her head and sighed. Frank liked to invite himself at least once a week and it was starting to get on her nerves.
Mike watched as Stef looked stressed,
"Alright dad but I got to go. Okay see you then" she said quickly hanging up.
"Grandpa's coming again!" Brandon said.
"Uhh it seems like it" Stef said pursing her lips together.
"Grreatt" Brandon said in a long breath.
"Is that good or bad?" Mike laughed.
"Well, it's medium. I love grandpa but he always asks too many questions and tries to talk to me about hunting" he said scrunching his face.
Stef nodded her head in agreement. She had a love hate relationship with Frank and as much as she tried to hide it, couldn't.
"Cal we're home!" Mike said opening the door as Brandon and Stef headed in. Brandon immediately ran upstairs to put on his pajamas and relax.
"Not so fast, dinner in a few hours!" Stef yelled watching him run up the stairs.
"Hi dad" Callie said coming downstairs. She wrapped Mike in a hug, which caught him off guard considering what she told him this morning.
"Hi princess" he said wrapping her in an even bigger hug and lifting her up off the ground slightly and swinging her a few times.
She giggled as he put her down,
"Hi love" Stef said hugging her as well. She loved watching the cute moments she was able to see and share with Mike. She felt sad that their marriage was falling apart right in front of their eyes.
"Can we talk real quick before you run off?" Stef said and Callie nodded. They each sat down at one of the chairs at the kitchen table,
"So, you wanna tell me why you decided to skip school today? The real reason" stef empathized as looked into her eyes.
Callie wondered why Mike wasn't sitting with them to talk. Any time they sat them down for any 'serious' talk, Mike was present.
"Umm I just needed a day off I guess" she said looking down.
"Love, what is it? You can tell me anything. Was it a teacher? Other kids?" She said holding onto her hand.
"It's because of Talya okay. She made fun of me yesterday in front of my friends" she said looking sad.
"Why? I hope you told the teacher or principal" Stef said getting angry.
"It's fine!" Callie yelled back making Stef flinch at her tone.
"It was because she saw my Little Mermaid keychain on my backpack and she said it was for babies" she said crossing her arms.
"Oh my gosh. You know that's not true right? You're definitely not a baby and you can like whatever cartoons you want" Stef said moving her hair away from her face.
"I know. I'm okay I just was really embarrassed to go back and I took it off already" Callie said shrugging.
"No way. You put that keychain back on and you be proud okay? Talya is a rude bully and she probably likes the little mermaid too. Heck, even I like that movie. But I do want to inform the principal that this is happening, what was her name?" Stef said sucking her lips.
"Her name is Ms. Adams. Talya bullies a lot of kids"
"Hmm Ms. Adams huh? I might just give her a call" she said thinking causing Callie to sigh. She hated when Stef got involved and caused drama within the class.
"Fine. It's not fair, Brandon has a  Spiderman keychain but all of his friends and all the other boys never make fun of him" she said letting out another sigh.
"Let me tell you a secret, it's harder to be a girl. But, that's what makes us strong and we cant listen to what everyone thinks of us. We will always be judged but you get to decide whether you want to listen to those bullies okay? They don't win" Stef said smiling.
"Okay, thank you mom" she said getting up and giving her a hug.
"Come here" Stef said lifting her up to sit on her lap,
"You're a big girl but still little enough to cuddle like this" she said hugging her and giving her a kiss.
"Alright, go be free, now I guess I have to make dinner.. and grandpa Frank is coming over later!" Stef said giving her a pat as she nodded and ran up the stairs.
Just then Stef's phone rang as Mike came down the steps, she answered it as she watched Mike go through the liquor cabinet.
"Hello?" She said
"Hi honey, just calling to say that Sharon insists on bringing over dessert and a small side salad, I know you hate that but I just wanted to let you know" he said laughing.
"Ughh it's fine dad. I'm just so tired from the day I just want it to be a quick dinner" she said laughing back.
"Of course, I'll see you later honey! " he said hanging up.
Mike grabbed a few bottles of wine and put them on the table as Stef shook her head, it was going to be a long night.